Free Spirits
by Durandall
Summary: A theoretically readable fic rendered into nonsense by this website's formatting utilities.  Check out what's left!
1. Prologue

Free Spirits -- Prologue

Disclaimer: The paints belong to Takahashi Rumiko (Ranma 1/2), Miyazaki Hayao (Spirited Away), and Akamatsu Ken (Love Hina). I'm just a peasant with an easel.

Notes: This is a crossover primarily between Ranma 1/2 and Spirited Away. The elements of Love Hina in this story are so abstracted and obfuscated as to hardly be relevant, but they are disclaimed, despite the fact that this is not listed as a crossover with that series. For a better explanation, refer to the Love Hina fanfic, 'Sky and Shore', written in the same continuum as this story. If you wish to read 'Sky and Shore', you can find it on my website.

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The first thing he was aware of was the sky.

It was black where he looked; light bled into it from beyond the horizon in every direction he could see.

There were no stars, only a muted, dark gray patch of cloud overhead. More came into focus as he looked, the edge of a roof above him, wooden and worn. The horizon itself, littered with myriad tiny houses in the distance, closer things being obscured by trees, and before that a railing.

"What..." The word was sluggish, as if spoken by someone drunk, or exhausted to the point of passing out. It took a moment to realize that he was the one who had uttered it.

"Don't try to talk."

He couldn't see who the speaker was, merely get a vague impression of him. His eyes refused to cooperate, not even blinking. Somehow, despite all of that, he was given the image in his mind of a man, genial in appearance, with hair a few centimeters long, and the glint of light reflecting off his glasses. More light than he could see from his vantage. Nothing else came to him beyond that.

The sound of a rasping inhalation reached him, though he wasn't able to tell where it was from, until he heard an exhalation, and a lazy stream of smoke passed before his eyes. The smoke began to curl into indistinct shapes, resembling the surface of a stormy sea before it faded, seemingly into nothingness.

"You're too numb right now. I'll make it simple, for you."

He tried to make a noise, and became aware of his lips, nearly numb, only able to moan weakly.

"I can hear you just fine," the voice assured him, warmth and concern entering the tone. "Unfortunately, child, you died."

His mind whirled, trying to come to grips with this. The entire afterlife was standing on a wooden deck, staring at a black sky while some man stood behind him and smoked?

"Not hardly. This is ... a halfway house, I suppose. A piece of the mortal realm, somewhat closer to the kami-plane than you could reach normally."

There was silence, then, until the next exhalation brought another stream of smoke before his eyes. This time, his unblinking eyes took in the shapes wrought from nothingness -- a house, perched on a hill. Faces emerged from the roiling mass, as the house vanished. Smiling girls, a bashful boy.

"Potential, at the moment. Worry about yourself more."

The faces melded into a single ball, which reshaped itself to a cloud, then scooting quickly out of his sight.

"Yes ... there is a reason I brought you here. My domain is the sea, of course ... but that's not important at the moment."

Another puff of smoke became a young man, grinning rakishly, and running across the top of the cloud, which had rushed back into view.

"I have a friend... A friend who is tired of what he is, and wishes to retire."

The young man on the cloud began to stumble, his grin fading into a look of grim determination, one hand going to a sword at his side that hadn't been there before.

"You've probably guessed what I am, seeing as I'm talking to you, and you are ... at the moment ... dead."

The young man vanished, merging with the cloud. A new puff of smoke pushed the others away, forming a tall cliff, and with the aid of another puff, pools, each of which had a number of smoky bamboo poles standing within them.

"Now, my friend, who wishes to retire, is too noble to do so without making sure that there's an adequate replacement for him."

Even though nothing changed on the scene before him, he sensed, somehow, a smile.

"His daughter has her own destiny to follow."

He wished he could close his eyes, or at least look away. Obligingly, the smoke before him melted into a matronly woman's smiling face, somehow managing to catch a hint of hope in her eyes.

"Hmm... Sorry."

The image vanished, replaced by a prowling smoke-dragon, which flew in a lazy figure eight before him.

"Anyway, you can guess what happens next, can't you?"

He could, he thought. An offer to trade something -- probably his soul -- for the right to live again.

"In a sense."

The dragon laughed silently, dissolving into nothingness.

"It's more than that, though. You see... You will retain your soul. It will be yours. You will, however, if you accept, become a replacement for my ... friend."

He considered that, wondering if it were an elaborate lie, or a plan to otherwise ensnare and destroy him.

"Considering you can't move, I could do that anyway."

The humor was quickly draining from the voice, and he raged silently, hating his inability to do anything other than watch and think.

"Calm yourself. I won't. I don't plan on harming you."

The rage slowly lessened, until only despair was left. Another puff of smoke formed into the matronly woman again, and the despair intensified. He was completely at the whim of this being, who ... or whatever it was.

"I'm not terribly good at this."

Again the woman was banished, replaced with a pair of smaller smoke dragons, which chased one-another's tails.

"To the point. If you accept the offer, you will live again, as a servant to my friend, who wishes to retire." Another sucking inhalation. "You will spend the rest of your mortal life doing as you see fit, within what is acceptable for your position and training. When you die ... or sooner, should you wish it, your mortal life will end, and you will take the position my friend wishes to vacate."

The dragons merged with yet another puff of smoke, reforming the pools and the cliff.

"And if you choose not to accept, you will be returned where I found you, drowning in a cursed pool ... though for kindness, and your time, I'll make sure your soul isn't trapped there. You will still be dead, of course. And do whatever it is that dead mortal souls do."

He sensed a note of scorn, the pools and cliff before him somehow seemed more vibrant and real.

"It's your choice. If you'd like, I can show you who you would be serving, who you would follow after, before you decide."

The pools melted into the young man who ran across the top of a cloud.

"His name is Ida-Ten."

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"Boy!"

His eyes fluttered weakly, taking a long moment to open. When they did, his sight was blurred, unfocused. He had the image of a man, smoking a cigarette, but it vanished when he blinked it away.

"Pops?" he asked, his voice harsh, and at the same time, much softer than he thought it would be.

"Boy? I ... thought I lost you there," the voice said.

He focused his slow eyes on the man before him. His father, of course.

"What happened?" he asked, struggling to a sitting position, aided by the older man.

"Fell into the pool and didn't come back up," the man said gruffly. "Thought you were staying down to trick me ... I ... we got you out, though. Don't worry about the curse, with some hot water you'll be back to normal."

"Curse?" he asked, one hand going to his chest, as a faint pain shot through his heart. His ... soft... ample ... female chest? "Crap," she said weakly. "Well ... beats being dead."

"Yes," her father agreed fervently. "Now, Ranma, you must thank the man who saved you."

Ranma climbed slowly to her feet, and took in her surroundings. The pool ... the cliffs... Jusenkyou. The guide stood a distance away, wide-eyed and unmoving. Between the guide and the pools, however, was a man who looked young, but radiated a sense of age. He wore a pristine white hakama and uwagi, a long wooden staff in his hand.

"Ida-Ten?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.

"Indeed," he intoned, stepping towards her and smiling softly.

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Author's Notes: I think I originally wrote this in '03 or '04. 


	2. Chapter 1

Free Spirits -- Chapter One

Disclaimer: The paints belong to Takahashi Rumiko (Ranma 1/2), Miyazaki Hayao (Spirited Away), and Akamatsu Ken (Love Hina). I'm just a peasant with an easel.

Notes: This is a crossover primarily between Ranma 1/2 and Spirited Away. The elements of Love Hina in this story are so abstracted and obfuscated as to hardly be relevant, but they are disclaimed, despite the fact that this is not listed as a crossover with that series. For a better explanation, refer to the Love Hina fanfic, 'Sky and Shore', written in the same continuum as this story. If you wish to read 'Sky and Shore', you can find it on my website.

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Ranma bowed her head, sighing. "So... I died, huh?" she asked.

"Yes ... and you are still dead, at the moment."

Ranma held up a hand and looked at it, bemused, shooting Genma a dark glance as he poured hot water over her, and it left her unchanged. "What was that for?" she grumped, as the older man's eyes widened in shock.

Agitated, the man exclaimed, "You're supposed to change back when you get splashed with hot water!"

"Aren't you listening?" Ida-Ten asked, frowning. "He's dead. That magic only affects the living."

"I thought I'd get to live again," Ranma mumbled, sighing.

"You will, if you agree," Ida-Ten assured her. "This is temporary. I know that... where you were can often disrupt your mind. I wanted to bring you back here and make sure that this is what you wanted."

"Gee, I dunno," Ranma mused. "Be trained to be a kami, or be dead. That's a tough choice."

"Don't mock it," Ida-Ten advised her, frowning. "If you die, you could simply be reborn, without any of the debts you will incur attached."

"I... no, the guy... wherever that was explained it to me," she sighed, shaking her head. "I... I want to be alive. I'll agree."

Ida-Ten wordlessly produced a scroll, presenting it to Ranma. "Press your thumb on the seal in the corner," he said. "But only after you've read it."

She nodded, sitting cross-legged, and scanning through the scroll. Her lips compressed into a tight smile, while Genma looked over her shoulder in confusion. After a while, she nodded, and pressed her thumb into the flat wax circle at the bottom of the sheet, and handed it back to Ida-Ten.

"Good," he said, smiling. "Now, I will prevail upon the Lord of the Sea to finish what he has begun, and bring you back. I warn you, however, that this will cause you a great deal of physical pain."

Ranma grit her teeth worriedly, and nodded. Surely it would be worth suffering through if it meant the right to live again, even with the requirements on the scroll.

There was no flash of light, no sparkling magic, just a sensation of rushing force, as Ida-Ten closed his eyes, and then the feeling of her body coming awake, after losing circulation.

It wasn't as bad as she had expected, the pins-and-needles sensation, until a wave of nausea dropped her to her knees, moaning. The nausea was accompanied by every nerve in her body at once coming alive. The sensation only then allowed her to realize how numb she was before she had been brought back -- it wasn't pain in the sense she had thought it would be.

It was pain because it hurt to live, compared to the relaxed state of death. The sound of soft wind through the grass set fire to her brain, the sensation of her shirt-sleeves sliding across her arms made tears spring to her eyes, and the array of colors and information that her eyes were giving her -- even when closed... was too much.

She fainted.

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When he returned to his senses, he was male again, woken by the splash of hot water. The pain was gone, the adjustment merely a bad memory. "I feel so strange," he murmured, rising to his feet once more, and looking down at himself.

Like Ida-Ten, he was dressed in an immaculate white hakama and uwagi. "What's this for?" he asked, plucking at it curiously.

"Appropriate garb for someone who is to take up my mantle," Ida-Ten said, raising his staff, and tapping it against the earth twice. "It shall appear as you wish it."

A passing thought turned the outfit into Ranma's training gi, and he smiled. "I get it," he said quietly. "So... uh..." He raised his eyes to regard Ida-Ten. "What happens now?"

"You train. You learn. You journey as you will, and finish out your mortal life -- unless you decide to take over for me sooner." Ida-Ten's lips curled in a smile. "That, of course, can be some time away. We must see that you are trained correctly, first."

"You're not going to give me a job to do, or anything?" Ranma asked, scratching his head.

Ida-Ten raised an eyebrow. "I will give you one gift," he said after a moment. "The power of the wind... You can not harness it, for it is the wind, and you are not strong enough to tame it. But... you will be able hear it, to touch it... to run along it. Take that, and learn. My advice to you is to pay attention to what will concern you. And that is my domain -- the law.

"East of here, less than a day's travel, is a village filled with warrior women. Ask the guide to lead you there, and before you do anything else, ask to learn of the laws of that place. That shall be your first task."

"So... I can go back to Japan, after this, though?" Ranma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"When you are not doing my will, your mortal life is your own to live," Ida-Ten said, shaking his head. "Now, I have other things to attend to. If you have need of my guidance, tell the wind, and I shall hear."

With that, the man leapt upward, somehow seeming to catch on an errant breeze, and then run away atop the gust.

Genma and Ranma stared after him for a silent moment, before Ranma's father shook his head, sighing. "What was that all about?" he asked worriedly. "What did you agree to?"

Ranma looked at his hands and frowned, wondering at how fragile life was. "That was a kami, Pops. He said he wants to train me to take over for him, so I gotta study up on the law."

"A kami, eh?" Genma mused, frowning. "That sounds pretty manly."

"Hmmm?"

Genma shook his head quickly. "Never mind about that. He said that there was a village around here. We could use a quick stop to stock up on supplies before we head back home, don't you think?"

"That's true," Ranma mused, staring upwards and wondering about the wind as the guide approached them cautiously.

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The walk to the village that Ida-Ten had mentioned only took an hour or so, and the guide was more than willing to lead them there.

The village was full of small houses, and some larger, all with thatched roofing. In the center, supported by a quartet of smaller posts, a massive scarred log hung, a pair of duelists combating one another atop it. Ranma and Genma's eyes were first caught by the table laden with food that sat a short distance away. Genma made to walk towards it, but Ranma halted him, shaking her head.

"Something wrong, Boy?" he asked, frowning.

Ranma wasn't certain why Genma was being so calm and patient towards her, and could only attribute it to her death earlier that day. "Ida-Ten said no matter what else I do, I have to ask these people to teach me their laws," Ranma said frankly. "Now, I'm pretty hungry, too, Pops, but I get the idea that it'd be better to do what the nice guy who brought me back from the dead said, first." She said nothing of the fact that there had been only enough hot water for one person, after the last spate of rain. While Ranma was not a fan of the curse, she readily admitted that she could at least speak as a normal human in her cursed form, which Genma could not.

Genma frowned, but nodded, as the guide examined them, apparently unable to understand their Japanese when they spoke so quickly. Turning to the guide, Ranma asked, "Who can teach me the laws here?"

The guide nodded, and took a pull from his pipe, considering. "I not think women here welcome outsider mans," he drawled. "If ask, maybe they tell you. All know laws."

Ranma crossed her arms over her chest, considering, and couldn't help but cast a speculative glance at the table, laden as it was with food. "What is that?" he asked, gesturing to it.

"Ah, is prize for competition -- but only warriors from this village can fight for prize," the guide warned.

"Dang," Ranma mumbled, her stomach growling, echoed shortly by Genma's. "Well, at least we asked, first. Saved ourselves a bunch of trouble."

"Yes," Genma sighed. "Well, I still have some coins. Where would we go to buy something to eat?"

"Shops closed for tournament," the guide said apologetically. "Until champion wins battle, all warriors fast. Then, great feast."

"Okay, so, we can either wait for this competition to finish up, or we can move on. How far is it to the next village?"

"Mmm," the guide mused, rubbing his chin. "Maybe two day?"

"Sounds like we wait here a bit," Genma rumbled, nodding.

Ranma shrugged, and took a few steps closer to the next fight on the log. A large woman with a weapon that combined the most awkward aspects of a spear and a mace, and a much smaller girl with purple hair wielding a pair of bonbori.

The battle was fairly short, the larger woman painfully outmatched, as the young girl was able to defeat her despite the look of fatigue that accompanied what was likely constant battles throughout the day.

She jumped for victory, raising her hands in the air with a grin of triumph, while the villagers, silent until then, erupted into loud cheers. Ranma stepped back carefully, closer to her father, and watched, frowning. The girl leapt from her log, landing a step and a half away from Ranma.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "Why are you here today -- do you want to challenge me for my prize?"

"N... nothing like that," Ranma said, shaking her head. "I'd like to eat, but, uh, before that, I'm supposed to ask to know your laws."

The girl was taken aback by this response, and frowned. After a moment, she smiled, nodding. "That's all? You want to learn our rules and join the village?"

Genma looked at Ranma in consternation, and shared a disbelieving glance with the guide.

"Um... I have to go back to Japan, but... my... uh... teacher, I guess, said I needed to learn your laws, first," Ranma answered, shaking her head again.

The entire village had focused its attention on Ranma and her father, jubilant cheers fading to curious musings. The girl nodded at Ranma, relaxing. "I will tell you of our laws, then, and you shall eat with me. Come!"

"Er... can Pops come, too?" Ranma asked hesitantly.

The girl eyed the man, then nodded, gesturing Ranma to follow.

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It wasn't until they left the village -- packs now burgeoning with the extra food Shan-Pu had piled on them -- that Genma spoke again. "Boy... I have two questions for you."

"Yeah?" Ranma asked, cocking her head to one side.

"When... did you learn to speak Mandarin?"

Ranma blinked at that, frowning. "I never did," she answered slowly. "I... I thought that we were talking in Japanese."

"Is quite strange," the guide murmured. "To hire guide, when speak language already."

"I don't remember learning," Ranma mumbled, frowning.

"It... must be something from Ida-Ten," Genma sighed. "Well, no worries, it's quite handy to suddenly know how to speak another language, isn't it, Boy? At any rate, my second question is... what else do you suppose he gave you?"

"Dunno," Ranma mumbled again, shaking her head, and watching the wind as it brushed across the grasses lining the road. On a sudden impulse, she leapt upward, her feet finding purchase, somehow, on the gust, and she ran across it, as it eddied around her father and the stunned guide.

The wind... she could feel it like a set of clothing. Not a part of herself, and not hers to control... But something solid enough for her to interact with. She could sense the brush of the breeze through the grasses below her, the soft whistle it made through nearby trees... the vibrant sense of life as it scrubbed through a wild hare's fur.

More than just clothing, she realized, turning a cartwheel on the wind over her father, as the man finally regained the sense to continue walking down the road. It was an extension of her senses, and wherever the wind went... she could feel. Was this what Ida-Ten had meant by his gift of being able to touch and hear the wind?

She laughed, wondering how quickly she could run atop the wind, and spying a distant mountain. Lost in the joyous freedom of crossing the top of the breeze, she did not notice as her clothing shifted back to the pristine white hakuama and uwagi, the loose cloth fluttering behind her as she ran on, a long strip of her belt winding a serpentine path behind her.

She reached the top of the mountain, and jumped, falling through the wind this time, and catching herself on the bare granite peak. Her father and the guide were barely visible in the distance, sensed only by the wind between them, and Ranma grinned. "This is pretty good," she whispered, leaping onto another passing gust, and running back.

"Hey, Pops!" she exclaimed when she reached the road again. "Did you check that out?"

"Yes," Genma said, his eyes wide. "That was... impressive. So... you really are learning to be a kami." The older man seemed nearly disturbed, then he smiled, shaking his head. "No matter -- you can easily become the best martial artist in the world with an advantage like that, Ranma."

"Is quite impressive," the guide managed, finally. "I think... sirs not be needing me anymore. Boy who runs on the wind... speaks Mandarin... not need Jusenkyou guide. Good luck to you." With that, he turned, and fled back towards the village they had departed.

Ranma shrugged, hitching her pack higher, and walking down the road, no longer running on the wind, but luxuriating in the feel of it regardless.

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The first inkling of a difference came when she stopped a thief, running from a man waving a ladle. She stopped him, and caught the soup bowl in one hand, while the would-be thief doubled over in pain from her kick to his stomach. He wouldn't be injured, but he was stopped.

The ladle-waving man drew to a halt, and blinked at her, while she balanced the soup-bowl on one finger. "This yours?" she asked, her growling stomach reminding her that the supplies Shan-Pu had given them had been finished off a day ago.

"Yes..." the man said slowly, reaching for his pocket, and shaking his head. "I should give you a reward for your time, though. Please, take..."

Ranma had heard 'reward', and quickly drank the soup down. "Ah... thanks!" she said cheerfully, tossing the bowl to the man. He managed to catch it, while the would-be thief regained his feet and charged away, bouncing off of Genma's panda form. Gibbering, he collapsed, trying to edge away, and Ranma hefted him by his collar. "So, what should I do with this guy?" she asked.

"My... money," the ladle-carrying man said after a moment. "He..."

Ranma nodded, quickly pulling the would-be thief's wallet from his pocket, and handing it to the ladle-bearing man. He took all of the money from the wallet, and Ranma frowned, feeling a twinge of... something... that drew her eyes to the ladle-bearing man's. He swallowed nervously at her look, and put most of the money back into the wallet, returning it to the would-be thief, then shooing him away. "Thank you," he said after a moment, while the other man quickly ran away.

"No problem," Ranma said, smiling, and trying to relax the look she had shot the other man. "Can you tell me where I can get some hot water? Or maybe buy some more soup -- that stuff was good."

"Er... that soup is magical," the man replied, shaking his head. "But I can get you hot water."

Ranma nodded, motioning for Genma to wait, and guard to the packs. "You stay here -- I'll grab something to eat and be back in a bit, okay?"

The panda nodded, setting its pack next to Ranma's, and sitting heavily.

"That's... a well behaved beast you have there," the cook said slowly.

"He's not really a pet," Ranma deferred, wondering what had prompted her to look at the man so, when he had tried to take the money.

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The two stood at the edge of the sea, silently watching the roiling waves. Genma turned to look at his son, finally male once they had reached more major cities, where hot water was plentiful. He had finally stopped changing his outfit to anything other than one that matched Ida-Ten's, and there were other, less noticeable changes.

For one thing, Ranma was able to speak any language as though he were a native, generally without noticing. He could write in them, too, though his handwriting had not improved at all. The winds carried him wherever he ran, and he was faster -- much faster -- than he had been before the springs.

But that paled when compared to the solemn respect he paid to laws, whatever they were. And every time they entered another province, or village, he asked to learn them, listening carefully, and nodding.

Beyond all that, he was still the same Ranma, though. It was strange, but not unsettling, and Genma could only feel pride when he realized how great his son had grown under his training. "Well," Genma said, breaking the silence. "How shall we get back?"

"I could run," Ranma said quietly, his eyes closing as the wind caressed his face, toying with his pigtail before passing on. "I don't think I could carry you the entire way, though. I don't feel like swimming."

"Well, then we'll have to find a ship," Genma grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, and thinking. "Passage from here to Sasebo should only be a few days off, and shouldn't cost too much. There should be a port along the coast -- which way should we head?"

"I hear... something to the south," Ranma said after a moment, opening his eyes and regarding Genma. "Should we go that way, Pops?"

"One direction is just as good as any," he reasoned, leading Ranma southward.

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"...so, what's he like?"

"No idea," the man chuckled at his daughters.

They stared at him for a moment, until a knock came at the door.

"That's probably him," the man reasoned, smiling, and climbing to his feet. The middle daughter followed him to the door, which was thrown open with an eager grin on his part. Framed in the doorway were a redheaded girl and a panda, both of which looked about somewhat eagerly. "Ranma!" the man exclaimed, embracing the girl before she could speak.

"Uh, Daddy... that's a girl," Nabiki warned. "Some fiance this is."

Soun broke off his weeping long enough to hold the girl at arm's length and ascertain that she was, in fact, not a boy. "But... I was sure that Saotome told me he had a boy," he said weakly.

"I am a boy," Ranma mumbled, pushing Nabiki's questing hand away from her chest, and frowning. "If you can get me and Pops some hot water, we can explain the entire thing."

Later, when Ranma and his father had been restored to human form, and the situation explained, Soun nodded to himself, saying, "That's simple enough, then. Ranma, I'd like you to choose one of my daughters to be your fiancee."

Ranma scratched behind one ear nervously, looking away. "This is about a legal contract, or else I'd have asked my teacher for something else to do," he mumbled. "Um, Tendo-san, I honestly don't got a clue how this kinda thing should be handled."

"Eh..." Soun replied, frowning. "Legal contract?"

Ranma's eyes flashed, something luminous in their blue depths, and he nodded. "When it's about certain things... the wind... the law... temples... When it's about things like that, my teacher makes me pay attention. Things like that are important."

"Your teacher?" Nabiki asked, raising one eyebrow. "Who's that?"

Ranma brushed at one edge of his hakama, staring at the floor. "He's... the one who's teaching me. I shouldn't really say."

"It isn't..." Soun drawled, shooting Genma a worried look.

Genma shook his head quickly, pushing away the unopened bottle of sake that Soun had set before him. "No, no, absolutely nothing like that," he replied quickly. "His teacher is... a kind stranger that didn't want Ranma to die at Jusenkyou."

Ranma shifted uncomfortably, still staring at the floor.

"Well," Soun sighed, shaking his head, and clapping his hands together. "That's not too bad, regardless. Pick one of my daughters."

"He seems a bit young," Kasumi said slowly.

"Oh, I think Akane wants him," Nabiki said more quickly, shaking her head. "He's a martial artist, she's a martial artist... it'll all work out."

"But... but I don't even know him!" Akane protested, shaking her head quickly. "Isn't this rushing things, just a bit?"

"Then it's settled," Soun said decisively, nodding. "Now, onto other matters."

Akane frowned at that, and looked at Ranma with something between hope and fear. "Um... I'm Akane," she said. "You... do martial arts?"

Ranma smiled faintly.

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Akane blinked, staring at her extended fist. Ranma stood before her, just out of her range. She drew back her fist, and stepped forward, striking again.

Seeming as though her were sliding back across the floor of the dojo, he stayed just out of her reach, a smile playing about his lips. She frowned, pressing her attack, but each strike was avoided.

"How..." Akane mumbled, frowning. "Why aren't you fighting me?"

Ranma shrugged, slipping past a trio of her own strikes to whip past her like the wind, and poke the back of her neck gently.

Akane slumped, glaring at the newcomer. A boy, and not only was she forced to agree to an engagement with him, but he casually bested her at her one pride. She held her temper in check -- he had been polite, at least, so far.

"I got a lot of practice," Ranma said after a moment, not looking at Akane, but outside the dojo, to where a breeze played with the long grass at the edges of the koi pond. "I've spent most of my life training." Shaking his head, he walked to the edge of the doorway, staring at the yard, as though fascinated. In a louder voice, he added, "Things are much noisier here than they were in China... so many people. So many voices."

"You... aren't you... Well, how did you learn to move so fast?"

Ranma didn't reply, except to shake his head, and jump, though from her vantage it seemed more like he had been picked up by a stray breeze, and wafted onto the roof of the house. Yelping, Akane charged after, leaping upward and managing to reach the edge, quickly scrabbling to where Ranma stood on the peak of the roof, a breeze ruffling his garb. She walked carefully to stand near him, where he perched, his eyes closed, and head cocked to one side.

"Aren't you going to tell me how you beat me?" she asked, more confused at his behavior than angry.

"Shhh," Ranma breathed, raising one hand. "Do you hear that?"

She shook her head silently, forgetting his closed eyes.

"That's the sound of no one caring," he sighed. Her mouth dropped open, and her face colored with anger. Seething she drew back one fist, only to halt, as he sighed again. "I can hear... in the distance, a child who has had something stolen from him. And he tells his mother. But she doesn't care."

Her fist dropped to her side, and the anger gave way to confusion again, and this time, worry.

"And there... I can hear a girl... she had someone betray a promise to her... She tells her parents, because she is too frightened to tell anyone else. But they don't care, either. And more... so many voices, so few of them caring." Another sigh escaped his lips, and he opened his eyes, though they were fixed on some distant point. "The wind... I hear this on the wind, and I wonder... if this is what a city is. I... haven't been back to a city since..." Something in his eyes seemed to shift, and he stiffened, edging away from Akane. "Anyway. Sorry about that."

"Ranma?" Akane asked timidly. "You... you hear voices?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I hear the wind. It... carries sound. I learned a technique that lets me hear things on the wind. With this many people around the entire city, it gets really confusing. Just... too many people." He shrugged uncomfortably. "I'll learn to deal with it."

"...oh," Akane murmured quietly. "Um... will you be going to school?"

"I think I have to," Ranma mused, smiling crookedly. "There are laws about it, or something. Until my teacher tells me to do something else, anyway."

-+-+-+-+-

"Ranma-kun, would you like to take a bath after your long journey?"

The boy blinked, at that, then nodded, and seemed to slide through the air to the ground. "That would be nice. Thank you, Kasumi," he replied.

Akane frowned, hopping to the earth and grunting at the impact. She turned to face her sister as Ranma vanished into the house. "Are you getting along with Ranma-kun?" Kasumi asked gently.

"Um..." Akane hedged, frowning. "He seems... a bit strange. I think he might have hit his head one too many times while training."

Kasumi looked worried at that. "Is something wrong, then?"

"I don't know," Akane sighed, shaking her head. "He's... a good martial artist, though."

Beaming, Kasumi asked, "Is he as good as you, Akane-chan?"

"Better," she admitted, turning her gaze to her feet, and closing her eyes. "But he's... wierd."

"How do you mean?"

Akane pursed her lips thoughtfully. How to explain? "He... seems to think he can hear things on the wind."

"Perhaps it's a martial arts technique," Kasumi suggested. "He has been training for several years, after all."

"I suppose," Akane sighed, still doubtful.

-+-+-+-+-

Akane walked to school, pausing only momentarily to glance upwards at Ranma, where he paced along the fence. "Are you trying to practice your balance?" she asked, wondering about the strange, mostly silent boy who had moved into her life... her fiance, she supposed. There were so many strange things about him, like where he had gotten the Furinkan uniform he was wearing, that she couldn't quite understand.

He shook his head, his eyes still distant. "No, my balance is okay, right now. I just like being closer to the wind," he replied. After a moment, his eyes refocused, and he peered down at her. "Well, and balance too, really. You can never have too much practice."

"Well, if we're supposed to be walking together... and getting to know one another better... why don't you walk down here with me?" she asked.

Ranma shrugged, jumping off of the fence, and landing beside her. "Is this better?" he asked, tugging uncomfortably at the collar of his school uniform.

Akane blinked in surprise, halfway expecting the boy to remain aloof and ignore her. Before she could say anything more, however, Ranma was splashed with cold water, transforming again before her eyes. More surprising than the shift in gender, which she had seen and knew to expect, his uniform shifted with him, matching Akane's.

The redhead blinked and looked down at herself, frowning. "Stupid rules," she muttered. "I gotta run back to get some hot water now -- don't want to go to school dressed like this."

"Your... clothes changed," Akane managed, surprised. "But... anyway, there's no time for you to go back and get to school without being late."

Ranma hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "I'm lots faster than you think. Wait here -- it'll just be a minute."

Akane opened her mouth to protest, but Ranma disappeared down the street, almost seeming to glide over surface on a passing breeze instead of running atop it. Sighing, Akane crossed her arms over her chest. "Honestly," she grumped. "We could have gone to see Tofu-sensei."

She tapped one foot, counting the seconds in her head, but Ranma reappeared before a complete minute had passed, male, and in the appropriate uniform again. He grinned at her, coming to a halt. "Sorry," he said, shrugging. "Where to, now?"

The girl could only stare in wonder at that, and shook her head. "How... fast are you?"

"Dunno," Ranma replied shrugging evasively. "Anyway, we should be getting to class, right?"

"Right." Sighing, Akane led the way again, heading swiftly towards the school.

They paused at the street before the school gates, and Akane turned to Ranma. "Before... before we go to school, I want you to understand that I don't want you hanging around me."

An annoyed grimace crossed his face, but the boy nodded. "We should hurry, then," he said. "It's going rain soon."

Akane blinked at his change of subject, and sighed. "A...anyway, stay out of my way, alright?"

"I'm not stupid," he grumbled. "I get it."

Akane hesitated a moment longer, then shook her head and charged the horde of waiting boys.

-+-+-+-+-

Ranma surveyed the fallen from his perch atop the wall, and frowned. He hopped off the fence, landing near Akane while an older boy spoke to her, too quietly for him to hear from the wall until he bent an ear to the wind.

He heard the other boy say, "... you must fight with..." The older boy broke off, frowning. "And who are you?" he asked imperiously, hefting his bokken threateningly.

Ranma blinked, glancing back at Akane, and remembering her earlier words. "Well, I'm--"

"Ah, but it's the custom to give one's own name first!"

Frowning, Ranma waited for the other boy to finish introducing himself as Kuno Tatewaki before continuing, "I am the heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts," Ranma said, inclining his head slightly to Kuno. "My name is Saotome Ranma."

"And what is your relation to Akane?" he asked, eyes narrowing.

Ranma turned to look at Akane and raised an eyebrow. "He's just a friend," she said quickly. "His father is staying with us for a while."

Kuno's eyes narrowed. "Who has given permission for you to be so close to Akane?" he growled. "I shall never allow it!"

Ranma made a face and shook his head, but before he could speak, he realized that the clouds overhead were about to release their burden. Without thinking about it, he dismissed the kendoist, and found himself standing inside the school entranceway, Akane a few steps away from him.

"How did you do that?" she asked, looking around herself in disbelief.

"Do what?" he asked, wobbling unsteadily, and shaking his head. What had he done?

"You... We were outside, and now we're here." She raised her eyes to meet his, and gasped. "Are you okay? You look sick!"

"I just moved us," he said, shaking his head again, annoyed that it wouldn't clear. "I'll be fine once I can sit down. We should get to class before we're late."

Akane spared one last glance at the walk to the school, where Kuno was looking around in confusion, rain pelting him as he wondered where she and Ranma had vanished.

-+-+-+-+-

After introducing Ranma to the class, the teacher had informed both her and Ranma that they were late, and had to stand in the hall. She sighed quietly, but she couldn't blame Ranma -- he'd looked ill and nearly dead on his feet after whatever it was he'd done. She pursed her lips and glanced at him out of the corners of her eyes. If... if he could do things like that, maybe... maybe he could hear voices on the wind?

"Do you hear anything?" she whispered to him, curious.

He raised an eyebrow, and then his eyes turned distant for a moment, before he shook his head. "No wind," he whispered back. "But we shouldn't talk."

"It's okay," she said, shaking her head. "Um... Did you want me to explain what that was about?"

Ranma nodded wordlessly, obviously curious, though his color and strength appeared to be returning quickly from his ordeal escaping the rain.

"Well... Kuno made an arrangement where the boys say that whoever manages to beat me can... date with me." She sighed, looking away.

He scowled at that, and shook his head. "By what authority?" he asked after a moment.

Akane turned to look at him, frowning. "What do you mean?"

"Who gave him the authority to make such a decision?" he asked. "Shouldn't the choice in who you date be yours, or at least belong to your family?"

"Er... he... doesn't... really have authority, but he is the leader of the kendo club." She sighed again, shaking her head. "You know what they say, though, Ranma. 'Might makes right.'"

For a moment Ranma's eyes nearly seemed to glow an icy blue, but he slumped, and Akane decided it was merely her imagination. "Then his word has no power over you." He paused, frowning. "Unless you agreed?"

She shook her head quickly, as a roar sounded across the hallway. "I shall never allow it!" echoed the yell.

Ranma blinked, the buckets dropping to the ground in luridly slow motion. Akane's eyes widened involuntarily, as Ranma had crossed the hallway and taken up a defensive stance before they even reached the floor. Another bucket passed through the space that Ranma had occupied only a moment prior, splashing water across the floor.

Kuno then drew his bokken, crying out, "Your engagement to Tendo Akane, I will never accept it!"

Akane's eyes closed, as the sliding partitions to the classroom behind her suddenly burst open, her classmates gasping and gossiping already. Ranma, however, ignored them, and when she opened her eyes he was regarding Kuno with a flat, empty stare.

"So," he drawled slowly. "Who said that you were the one who would decide if it was okay?"

"I did," Kuno protested, slowing his attack, confused by Ranma's approach.

"And you were given this authority by who?" the pig-tailed martial artist asked, cocking his head to one side.

"By divine right," Kuno intoned, raising his bokken to an offensive position. "Now, I challenge you!"

"Follow me," Ranma snapped, dashing down the hall, but at a much more sedate speed than Akane had seen him run that morning. Kuno was able to follow, and out of a combination of fear and curiosity, she pursued as well.

The pair reached an open window, Ranma leading, and he said, "This way, Kuno," before hopping out.

Akane winced, biting her tongue, but saying nothing. That was the side of the school where the pool was located. When she reached the window, however, she saw that Ranma's leap had carried him clear across to the opposite side, while Kuno's landed him straight in the water.

The kendoka was struggling to reach the side of the pool, while Ranma crossed his arms over his chest, and tapped a foot impatiently.

"How did he land a jump like that?" one of Akane's classmates asked.

Another whispered, "That's inhuman!"

She swallowed, wondering what would happen next.

-+-+-+-+-

Kuno finished pulling himself out of the water, sodden, but fueled by fury. "You coward," he spat, growling. "To lead me into a trap like this!"

"What trap?" Ranma asked. "You could have gone the long way around."

"Feh," Kuno snorted. "I strike!"

With that, he slid into a kendo stance, the water in his clothes not noticeably slowing him. Ranma evaded the strikes, frowning.

"Laws are not established so arbitrarily," Ranma growled. "You have no authority. You have no right."

Akane blinked, her fingertips going to her lips as she stared. How was she able to hear them, from the third story?

A gust of wind blew, and Kuno tottered unsteadily, before suddenly slumping to the ground.

Another gust passed, and she found herself on the opposite side of the wall surrounding the school, her hair billowing behind her for a moment despite the lack of wind. Ranma crouched near her, his eyelids fluttering for a moment before he groaned, falling prone.

The collected rainwater in the puddle he landed in activated his curse, and Akane shook her head, not understanding. But even if she couldn't understand everything, she knew that Ranma had risked hurting herself, as moving people around as she did seemed to tire her. Sighing, she cast a glance at the school before hefting the other girl -- once more in a girl's uniform -- onto her back.

Tofu would be able to help her.

-+-+-+-+-

Ranma came back to her senses being carried on someone's back. "What's goin' on?" she managed sleepily.

The girl carrying her -- Akane -- sighed, and shook her head slightly. "I don't know," she said after a pause. "I'm still trying to figure that out. I was in the hallway one second, and then the next, I was by you, outside the school. Did you do that?"

"It's... tiring to move so fast," Ranma sighed, her pride gone for the moment. Everything was so strange... In some senses, Ida-Ten's 'gift' was worse than her curse. "Where we goin'?"

"I'm taking you to visit a doctor I know -- his name is Ono Tofu."

"Doctor," Ranma mumbled, closing her eyes, and wishing she didn't feel so weak. "I hate being a girl."

"Is it so bad?"

"It's not what I really am," she grumped, wriggling until Akane set her down, and she stumbled along after her on her own. "I'm a guy... but the curse..." She sighed, shaking her head. "Could be worse, though."

"Worse, how?"

"Let's just say I'd rather have this than be dead."

Akane raised an eyebrow, but didn't push any further, leading Ranma to a clinic down the street. "Come in here -- I'll ask him to see you, okay?"

Ranma nodded, closing her eyes and leaning against a stone wall. She could still feel the wind, though the sensation of it was lessened, now. But a passing breeze caressing the clinic whispered soothing promises of health. An easterly wind...

She opened her eyes slowly, as Akane reappeared, gesturing her within. Following obligingly, Ranma found herself sat on a stool, while Akane sat nearby, watching anxiously. Before her stood a kindly looking man of indeterminate age, wearing a blue gi, and adjusting his spectacles.

"Hello, there," the man said in an amiable tone. "Might you be Ranma, Akane's friend?"

Ranma nodded dumbly, wondering why she could hear the wind, even inside the clinic.

"Not feeling well?"

"Kinda... dizzy," she managed, blinking.

He nodded, and turned around, rummaging through some drawers on a shelf behind him. After a moment he came up with a handful of something, which he cupped and frowned at. Nodding decisively, he turned around, and blew across the cupped hand, sending a flurry of cherry petals dancing across the room, a few of them landing on Akane.

The girl slumped on her stool immediately, and Ranma tensed, struggling to her feet. "What's goin' on?" she asked, as the wind in her ears intensified.

"I won't hurt her," the man assured her placidly. "I'm just curious to know who you are."

"Saotome ... Ranma," she said, shaking her head. "Can't think... Wind's too loud." Abruptly her sense of the wind cut off, and she was left reeling in a welcome silence. "What the heck?" she asked, shaking her head.

The man smiled slightly at that. "You could hear it? You seem like a mortal, but something..."

"Mortal?" Ranma narrowed her eyes. "What do you know?"

The man gauged her for a moment, then said, "My name is Ono Tofu. I am named after--"

"The east wind," Ranma said, snapping her fingers. "And then... Jikoku... And that makes you the son of Marisha-Ten!"

Tofu blinked at that, stunned. "I am," he said slowly. "Did my mother send you?"

"No ... the wind was telling me that, and I just now figured it out," Ranma said, closing her eyes.

"Do you mind if I ask you how you came to hear the wind?" Tofu asked, taking a seat and glancing for a moment at the slumbering form Akane.

"I'm ... supposed to be training to take over for Ida-Ten," Ranma said, shaking her head. "But I think I'm going crazy. The more I listen to the wind, the more I can't do anything else but hear it. I think it's driving me nuts."

"It could be," Tofu mused. "You will need much more practice with your gifts, I think, before they work correctly for you. It's ... difficult to listen to all the voices, sometimes."

"You can hear it, too?" Ranma asked, eyes widening.

"Well, from the east," Tofu said, shrugging. "My father was Jikoku, as you said. He's the guardian of the east, and so... But mostly I imagine I take after my mother." He smiled at Ranma and shook his head. "Could I get you something to drink? Maybe some tea?"

Ranma took a moment to study Akane. "Actually, just hot water, if you can." Tofu nodded and rose, leaving Ranma alone for only a minute before he handed over a kettle. She splashed herself with it, thankful for Ida-Ten's gift of an outfit. While he wasn't pleased with wearing a dress, it was more convenient than needing to adjust his clothing. He handed the kettle back to Tofu. "Thank you, Tofu-san."

The doctor shook his head, sighing. "I'm guessing that's a long story... but for another time. Tell me, Ranma, why are you here?"

"I'm... supposed to be learning and living out my mortal life, I guess," Ranma sighed. "And... I'm engaged to Akane, too. So I guess I'm just doing what I'm supposed to."

Tofu laughed, shaking his head. "I meant here, in my office, Ranma."

"Oh," Ranma groaned. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking. Um, mostly, just because the wind... I can't focus right with all the voices I can hear, and it feels wrong not to listen, for some reason. So... I guess I just need to learn how to keep things straight. I... do funny things when I don't pay attention."

"Like what?" Tofu asked, retaking his seat.

"Like moving me and Akane so fast no one can see it..." He sighed again. "I wanted to move fast enough to avoid the rain, and I did... but it left me tired. I did ... something ... to a boy at the school because he was corrupting the purpose of the law... But I don't know what, exactly, and I'm not even sure how. You know ... it's pretty confusing to die, and then be told you can come back, but only if you agree to become a kami.

"And being ... I guess I'm still human, but I feel so different, being able to hear the wind, and run on it. But I can't, 'cause I'm afraid if I do, people will see, and not understand, and it's hard to pass off as a martial arts technique."

Tofu winced sympathetically. "I ... was born into it, so I can't honestly say I understand, Ranma. But for what it's worth, I imagine it's probably terribly confusing."

The boy nodded.

Rising to his feet, Tofu clapped his hands together. "You're Ida-Ten's student, so I wouldn't presume to try and teach you anything. Ida-Ten might not appreciate that. What I will do, is make you some medicine, which will block out the wind. I'll give you enough for a week... but my suggestion to you is to call on your master, and ask him to teach you further."

"Medicine?"

"Well, it'll look like medicine, at least." Tofu shrugged. "Regardless, I'll give you that, and if you want it, my friendship. While I appreciate being around mortal people, and I love helping them, and healing... it does sometimes get lonely."

"Why are you here?"

Tofu shook his head, turning to his cabinet of supplies, and grabbing a collection of various powders and leaves. "I'm here because I wanted to see the mortal realm, by and large. Curiosity... and good will, I suppose. These things... define me, and make me stronger. By healing people, and doing what good I can, I strengthen the people's faith in myself, to a degree, even if none of them -- until you -- knew that I wasn't human.

"Ida-Ten will probably tell you this, but you are still mortal, so it may not matter. We kami... don't need food, or water, or air... or anything at all, except for faith to survive. It doesn't mean we can't use things like food, water, and we don't enjoy the scent of the wind, and the messages it brings.

"It just means that our real source of strength is the humans, and their belief in us." The doctor sighed, producing -- somehow -- a small bottle of round pills from the bowl he had been grinding leaves and powders in. "And, of course, that's fading, these days. We won't die, as people will always believe, and even if they don't... we'll survive. But I often fear what will happen if people forget about us."

Ranma blinked, absorbing the rush of information, and instinctively reaching out a hand as Tofu gave him the bottle. "What happens if people forget?" he asked, worried. He was going to be a kami himself, some day, after all.

"Then they forget... and we can't touch their lives... and they can never draw strength from us." Tofu's expression had become somber, and he shook his head, smiling again suddenly. "But, that is why I am here. I'm not alone -- just the only one in this specific area. By doing the work that I do, I allow us kami to remain in the hearts of men."

"Oh," Ranma said meekly. "Is that why Ida-Ten is too busy to talk to me, and leaves me alone? He's doing the same thing?"

"I couldn't say," Tofu admitted. "I know him only by reputation, though..." He trailed off, frowning.

"Though?" prompted Ranma.

"He... associates closely with Yakushi-nyorai. Being one of the six Buddha, and of course, the one in charge of remedies and healing, I know him, though not well. That's... because he and my mother have a daughter."

Ranma scratched his head, making a face.

"Children... for kami sometimes work more in the sense of a concept then a relationship," Tofu explained. "That is to say... my mother never had a relationship with either my father or Yakushi-nyorai, but they combined their essences to create us."

"I guess," Ranma said doubtfully. "What does this have to do with Ida-Ten?"

"Sorry," Tofu sighed. "I get side-tracked when I think about my half-sister. At any rate, I meant to say that I really don't know. If you can speak to him, you should, however. You will need training to be able to listen to the wind without it driving you to an early grave."

Ranma nodded, rising to his feet, then turned to look at Akane quizzically. "I... can kind of hear the wind say she's alright... what did you do to her?"

"A harmless trick," Tofu said dismissively. "I merely sent her to sleep. I'll wake her, now, and she won't remember it. Watch."

He waved one hand, and the petals on Akane vanished, while she jerked her head upright with a start, blinking away her sleep. "I'm sorry," she said, her face flushing. "I don't know what... You already changed back?" She cocked her head at Ranma curiously.

"Yeah," Ranma said, turning his eyes away from hers, and studying the bottle Tofu had given him. "So... how should I take these?"

"Take one now, and one whenever your headache gets too bad," the doctor suggested. "If you run out and need more, come and see me. Alright?"

"Okay, Tofu-san," Ranma said, taking a small red pill from the bottle and swallowing it.

"Tofu-sensei," Akane corrected him gently. "Thank you very much, Tofu-sensei," she repeated, bowing to the man.

Tofu smiled, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it, Akane-chan. You two take care now, okay?"

Akane nodded wordlessly, blushing, and unable to meet his eyes.

-+-+-+-+-

The two walked home, Ranma carrying his bottle of pills in one hand, and studying if with a slight frown. "You like him?" Ranma asked, finally breaking the silence.

Akane blinked at the directness of the question, and nodded. "How... did you know?" she asked, turning to look at the strange boy who was supposed to be her fiance.

"Just a guess," Ranma said, shrugging. "Something kinda gave it away to me. What do you like about him?"

"He's... he's more mature than the stupid boys at school," Akane sighed. "They're all so stupid, none of them can be responsible, or careful." She bit her lip, wondering what made her open up so much to a stranger like Ranma. "I... don't know why. I just do."

"He's a pretty cool guy," Ranma said after a minute. "You ever seen his family?"

"No... do you know them?" she asked.

"Nah, just curious," Ranma said dismissively. "Um... Akane, I might be going on a training trip for a while."

"You only came to school for a single day, which you cut, and then you go on a training trip?" Akane giggled. "Why not ask Tofu-sensei to help you train after class -- he's a great martial artist."

"Um... Well, I don't think he knows the... style... my teacher is training me in." He frowned at something, then shook his head. "Anyway, I might only need a day or two, I might need longer. I'm just warning you, so you don't need to be to surprised if I'm not around for a while."

Akane bit her lip, eyeing her prospective fiance. "Ranma," she asked frankly, "are you planning on marrying me?"

He looked distinctly uncomfortably at that, and turned away. "Well... Pops says there's an agreement. If... I'm supposed to take care of things like laws, and stuff like that, I need to be able to follow the rules I have to."

"Laws?" Akane asked, frowning. "I... I'm sorry, Ranma. I don't understand." She looked away. "I don't even know you, and you do things that are so strange... I... don't like the idea of having to marry you." She swallowed nervously. "I'm sorry about that."

He said nothing for a while, the pair of them standing in the street, while the wind ruffled his hair. "Well," he finally managed. "I don't know you too well either, and it's kind of early. I dunno. I mean... an agreement's an agreement... so I need to follow the rules." He sighed, shaking his head, and looked away. "But at the same time, you know, the rules say I should be at school right now, 'cause I don't have an excuse not to be. And then I'm thinking of going on a training trip. This is confusing the hell out of me."

Akane shivered, and shook her head. "Ranma... you speak so strangely, almost... Almost like you're crazy. Are you... okay?"

"Okay?" he asked, grimacing. "I don't think I've felt okay since I di-- dove into that stupid cursed spring." He sighed, still not looking at her, and began to walk towards the Tendo home slowly. "I don't know. It throws me off. I feel weird all the time. Tofu-san gave me some pills, and that makes it so that I don't hear so much it feels like my head's gonna explode, but at the same time, there's just so much going on that I can't figure out, but I have to anyway. Ugh."

Biting her lip, Akane followed him cautiously, not saying anything until they reached the house.

-+-+-+-+-

Kasumi had just finished the final touches for the lunch she was preparing for her father and the elder Saotome, when she heard the door open.

Ranma tiredly greeted his father, then walked to the backyard, sitting on the porch, and staring at the sky. Akane followed nervously, standing in the living room and looking at Ranma until her father distracted the girl.

"Aren't you home a bit early?" Soun asked, frowning.

"I... there was a fight at school," Akane explained. "I took Ranma to see Tofu-sensei."

"A doctor?" Genma rumbled from the porch next to Ranma. "You okay, Boy?"

"Better," he said at length. "Not great, though."

"What's wrong?"

"Missing China," Ranma sighed. "Confused as all heck. Ida-Ten, where the hell are you? I need some help, here."

Kasumi frowned at that, wondering where the boy had learned to pray, but the question soon erased itself when, from nowhere, a man wearing a pristine white hakama and uwagi appeared over the backyard, as though riding a wind current. "Oh, dear," she sighed. "I'm going to need to make a bigger lunch."

The floating man -- probably Ida-Ten, by Ranma's rather uncouth prayer, frowned, his eyes flashing. He dropped from the air to light on the ground, and moved to Ranma's side. "You... learn too quickly, I think," he mused. "Whatever motivates you to push yourself so fast?"

"I'm thinking it was the 'being brought back from the dead thing,'" Ranma drawled. "But all of this stuff is driving me nuts -- it seems like I can't always obey every law, and it's confusing the heck out of me."

Kasumi wondered what was going on, and delayed her lunch plans, sitting at the table next to her father, while Akane stared, slack-jawed.

"Then, I suppose it is time for the next aspect of your training," Ida-Ten mused. "You cannot remain in the mortal-plane any longer -- not until you master what you've learned."

Ranma scrubbed his hands through his hair, his school uniform seeming to melt into the clothes he had worn when the met the Tendo family -- identical to Ida-Ten's. "So I gotta die again?" he asked plaintively.

"No. This should only take a short while. You must follow me, and we will see that you learn more -- while you know of law, you only know of its letter. We shall teach you of the spirit, as well. Come." With that, the man vanished, streaking upwards so quickly that Kasumi almost thought he had simply turned invisible.

Ranma offered a shrug, glancing towards his father, before he leapt upwards, pursuing the man.

"My," Kasumi mused into the silence that followed. "Would you like something to eat, Akane?"

"Um... Yes," Akane replied slowly, staring at the spot where Ranma had been. "What exactly happened? Why did Ranma say he had died?"

Genma rose to his feet slowly, shaking his head and sighing. "Well," he began, "it's a strange story, but, one of the things that happened at Jusenkyou, aside from just the curse..."

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- 


	3. Chapter 2

Free Spirits -- Chapter Two

Disclaimer: The paints belong to Takahashi Rumiko (Ranma 1/2), Miyazaki Hayao (Spirited Away), and Akamatsu Ken (Love Hina). I'm just a peasant with an easel.

Notes: This is a crossover primarily between Ranma 1/2 and Spirited Away. The elements of Love Hina in this story are so abstracted and obfuscated as to hardly be relevant, but they are disclaimed, despite the fact that this is not listed as a crossover with that series. For a better explanation, refer to the Love Hina fanfic, 'Sky and Shore', written in the same continuum as this story. If you wish to read 'Sky and Shore', you can find it on my website.

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Walking towards the school slowly, Akane frowned at the breeze that suddenly picked up, blowing past her ankles before rising, playing with a tree, and then subsiding. She had told Ranma that she didn't want to be engaged to him because she thought he was too strange. And as quickly as that, he had left.

She couldn't help but wonder if it was because of her telling him her feelings that he had left. And if it was her fault... Well, she didn't like hurting people, but the truth of the matter was that she didn't want to be in a relationship. At least, not with some young boy training to be a kami...

Smiling softly at the irony, she shook her head. What would thinking of such things do? He was gone. Gone to the kami plane, no less. Who knew how long it would take him to come back?

The poor boy... well, he was different from most other boys. Maybe ... he could use a friend? Akane's smile increased at that. She had no interest in marrying him ... but friends ... that was different.

She idly wondered what people would think, with him vanishing from school so quickly.

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Ida-Ten looked down at the girl, only a few dozen paces below him on the street, though she couldn't sense his presence. "Ah," he mused quietly, shaking his head. "You will remember. But no others ... until it's time to return."

He closed his eyes, and the wind increased, ruffling the girl's hair for a moment before it passed on to the school. Smiling faintly, he vaulted upward, running across a gust of wind, crossing the entirety of Nerima in only a handful of heartbeats.

Pursing his lips, he thought for a moment on where he had sent Ranma, his path winding around Tokyo Tower before the winds drove on, turning eastward, and then slightly north. "He will learn," he said quietly. "The Lord of Ocean would not choose one who could not."

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Ranma stood on a hillock, staring down towards the grassy slope below him, stretching as far as the eye could see. "What is this place?" he asked quietly, turning around, and seeing only endless grass in every direction. A soft breeze ruffled the blades of grass nearest to him.

He frowned, spinning as they warned him, and beheld a girl, seemingly his own age, waiting where no one had been only a moment prior. She wore clothes that matched his, the only addition a sword in a wooden scabbard at her side, and her much darker hakama than his. Her long black hair billowed behind her in the same breeze that described her to him, and he drew back a half step.

She bowed slightly, expression smooth and calm. When she rose, she said, "I am the daughter of Ida-Ten. What are you called?"

"My name is Saotome Ranma," he managed after a moment, forcing himself to relax. Ida-Ten had said he would be taken to someone who could train him more, after all. Not an enemy. "Who are you?"

"As I said, the daughter of Ida-Ten," she answered, smiling slightly. "You may address me as that for the time being. Names have power, young kami, and until you learn more..." She trailed off, and shook her head, still smiling. "But enough of that. We have much to learn. Are you ready?"

He nodded warily, and the girl spun away from him, marching down the hillock. "Come," she said tersely. "There is a river near. We will begin there."

"What exactly are you gonna be teaching me?" he asked, walking through the grasses and pacing her easily.

She glanced back at him, and her smile returned for a fleeting moment. "What I can teach you. I am young myself, but you are less skilled, I think."

He glowered at her, and she laughed, looking ahead again.

"You can hear the wind, and it tells you what it sees and hears. Is that not so?"

"That's... Yeah, I can hear it, and use it to sense things... with the wind it's like I can see with my eyes closed."

She nodded, not looking towards him. "Good. And the wind is eager to share, knowing few who will listen, is this not so?"

He nodded at her, guessing she would know, even if she weren't facing him.

"You cannot tame the wind... that is not within your power, though there are some that might. But you forget, with all the listening that you do, that you can speak to it, as well. Treat the wind as a friend, and it will aid you. If you ask it to only tell you what you need to know, it will."

Blinking, he stumbled to a halt as she stopped moving abruptly, at the edge of a small stream that wended through the grassy hills. "How do I ask it to do things for me?" he wondered aloud.

"You will learn, in time, more subtle ways, but for the moment, use your voice," she suggested, smirking.

He nodded, turning his attention to the breeze that coursed across the brook. "Can you... tell me what's upstream?" he asked tentatively.

Delighted, the wind told him exactly what was there -- the brook stemmed from a spring in the side of a nearby hill, surrounded by low bushes burdened with small berries. His stomach growled at that, and he turned a questioning look at the girl.

Her eyebrows rose. "The wind must like you," she said after a moment, shaking her head. "You will need to practice that, however. In time, you will learn to speak to the wind without your voice, and we will study what the wind will do for you... and what it will not. Always remember, young kami, the wind is fickle, and changes its mind easily."

"If... I'm running on the winds really high up, and they suddenly stop, does that mean I'll fall?" he asked, worriedly.

"Yes," she answered, smiling. "I'm impressed -- I thought you'd have to discover that the hard way. But that is for a future lesson -- for now, as you are still mortal, I would like to teach you about mortal beings in the kami plane."

He rubbed his stomach, smiling faintly. "Does this mean I can eat something?"

"Not immediately," she said, shaking her head. "Food of this plane will change you, and there is no way to tell what it will do to you if you are not cautious. Therefore, I will teach you how to make the food safe for yourself to eat."

She gestured him to follow, and dashed across the tops of the grasses, too quickly for him to follow on foot. Shrugging, he hopped onto a passing breeze, and began to overtake her, coming to an easy halt near the berry-laden bushes. They were exactly as the wind had described to him, a cheerful red color, but they looked like no berry he'd ever seen on earth.

"I imagine that this will be difficult for you, so pay close attention..."

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Finishing the last of her homework, Akane sighed pushing her seat away from the desk. Two weeks had gone by, and much to her surprise, sometimes an entire day would pass before she thought about Ranma. Usually, of course, she thought of him more than that, but it was hard to take seriously something that ultimately had so little bearing on her life.

"I wonder when he'll come back," she mused, rising from her seat, and wandering out to the dojo. The first few days, Ranma's father had nodded at her as she passed, but after the third day or so, he'd gotten a part-time job working for Tofu. He'd also given the meager income he had earned to the household's finances, which didn't concern Akane as much.

At the same time, though, she was pleased that he was being responsible, as ... well, more than a guest, she supposed. He was home today, surprisingly enough, and nodded to her, cupping his tea in both hands and looking up at the clouds from the porch.

"Hello, Saotome-san," she greeted, bowing slightly.

He smiled at her, and nodded, before going back to study the clouds. "Afternoon, Akane," he said quietly.

"Are you waiting for Ranma?" she asked, biting her lower lip.

"Yes," he admitted, sighing. "A parent can't help but worry about their children, Akane. And ... my irresponsible behavior already got Ranma killed once." He shuddered at that. "I have only one son, and I'd rather not worry about him ... but I don't know where he is, so ... I worry."

Akane winced sympathetically, and patted the man awkwardly on the shoulder. "He's probably fine," she assured him. He's a genius martial artist -- he's better than me, at least, and he's ... well, he's being trained by Ida-Ten." She rolled her eyes at that. The boy was being trained to be a kami. How could Genma even be concerned? "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I hope so," Genma said, rising, and offering an apologetic smile to the girl. "I should try not to worry so much. Tendo, are you up for a game of shogi?"

Akane opened her mouth to reply, but her father spoke before she could do so. "I thought you'd never ask, Saotome!"

She shook her head, watching the two men set up the board, and smiled. Her father seemed so much happier with someone around to keep him company. Perhaps it wasn't really so bad.

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"Very good," she said, reclining against a hill carpeted in shorter grasses than the plain they had started out in. Her hands were crossed behind her head, resting against a tall tree. The stalk of long grass in her mouth bobbed slightly as she smiled at him, sitting cross-legged a short distance down the slope, eyes closed.

He couldn't see color, but he could see everything else with the sense that the wind granted him. It even allowed him to see some invisible things, he had found. He opened his eyes, sighing, and managed a weak smile. "I think I have it now," he said quietly. "So I can use this to make anything I can think of?"

"Anything you can understand," she said, bringing one hand before her, cupped slightly. A soft glow began to illuminate her fingers, slowly brightening until a large spherical glow encompassed the hand, then condensed, brightening and shrinking to the size of a marble. It winked suddenly, the light vanishing, and leaving only a large glass bead in her palm.

"What's that?" he asked, frowning.

"This is merely a bauble. When someone holds it, and speaks my name, it will cast light." She turned it in her fingers, looking through it critically. "It is fragile, and once broken, the pieces will vanish into the same thing that crafted them -- my will. But much like the things that you create, it will either require much of your strength to make it last ... or it will fade without your concentration."

With a shrug, she tossed it into the air, where it dissolved into a sparkling fountain of light, specks of pure white drifting downwards and winking out.

"I could make something like that?" Ranma asked, cocking his head to one side.

"I wouldn't suggest trying to make things that you wish to last -- not until you've had some practice. It takes strength, and you are young still. In time, your powers will grow, along with your knowledge and skill." She shrugged again, standing up, and gently smacking her knees to dislodge dust. Dust that didn't seem to exist in this place, as far as Ranma had observed. "However, for the time being, we are done."

"Done?" Ranma asked cautiously. "I'm finished training?"

"You will need practice, but you've learned what I was told to teach you. You have the skill, mastering it will be your own job." Her eyes dimmed slightly, and she looked distant. "I will take you to another teacher now." With that, she began to run, dashing through the trees. "You must learn more of the law, as well."

He followed her swiftly, running over the ground instead of across it, and said, "You've still never told me your name. Who are you?"

She smiled, shaking her head. "That... I cannot say. Not yet." A tear shone in one eye, a tear that vanished when she blinked. "When my father has gone on, as he wishes to, and you take his place, then I can tell you. Perhaps sooner, but not until my task in the mortal realm is finished."

Ranma had learned much about the kami over the weeks of training, and one of the things he had learned was not to question such comments. He sighed, nodding, and followed her wordlessly. At least he was closer to being able to go back to the world he was born on and visit his father again...

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The skies had darkened, though not with the feel of the setting sun. They were not clouded, either, they just felt... darker. As though the sunlight simply held no dominion over the land before them. Ranma frowned, looking at the stunted trees with their thin branches waving slightly.

Colder winds blew in this place, from the north. "Who am I going to study with here?" Ranma asked hesitantly.

"Emma-o," the girl replied quietly. "I will go no further, but you must continue on."

Ranma shivered, shaking his head. "This place is darker ... it's not part of the kami-plane, is it?"

"It is ... but it is different. This is closer to the lands of the dead. Emma-o is their judge, after all." She bit her lip, looking away, one hand resting on the hilt of her sheathed sword. "You will be tested, and the testing will be harsh ... but it is important that it is done. Ida-Ten and Emma-o are not great friends, but Emma-o will tell you the laws you must learn, the ones he judges mortal souls by." Still looking away, she swallowed, and his eyes filled with the whispered wind's descriptions as she spoke. "You will journey far into these lands, and find a palace all of gold and silver. Pearls, sapphires, rubies... All manner of precious things have gone to craft the palace."

His vision cleared, and the girl's eyes flashed. He knew he would not get lost on the journey, and nodded wordlessly.

"This palace is merely a gateway ... the dead do not reside here. You ... may meet shinigami on the way. They can lead you if your path strays." The girl closed her eyes, sighing, and looking away.

Ranma shifted his feet uncomfortably, and bit his lip. She was babbling -- he knew enough not to get lost. Not now. But... "Thank you," he managed, finally, bowing slightly to the girl. "Will ... you be here when I get back?"

She nodded, opening her eyes but not meeting his. "I will wait," she answered quietly. "When you finish here, I will take you to Bishamon-sama, and then... Then I will return you to my father, and he will take you home."

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"Time moves differently, here."

Ranma jerked his head up from his contemplation of the barren soil before him, and turned to look at the small creature that had addressed him. It was living shadow, in a misshapen spherical form, but within it glimmered a faint light. "What..." Ranma cleared his throat, shaking his head, and remembering what Ida-Ten's daughter had told him. "I am Saotome Ranma, servant of Ida-Ten. I come here seeking Emma-o, that he may teach me more of the law."

The shadow bobbed slightly, then wavered, and began rolling in the direction Ranma had been traveling. "And I am a shinigami," the creature responded. "I'm bearing a soul to Emma-o for judgment."

Ranma resumed walking, pacing the ball of shadow. "It's ... nice to meet you," he offered after a moment. "I've, uh, never met a ... shinigami before."

"We know you," it said, the voice sounding from nowhere, yet all over the shadowy ball. "We follow everyone, you know. Eventually, at least."

"Ah... I suppose ... that's what you do," Ranma managed, floundering. How did one properly address a being that spent all of its time retrieving the souls of the dead?

"So it is," the being answered vaguely. "Another turn of the wheel, another soul to retrieve ... but I thought I'd warn you that time moves differently here."

He nodded, understanding that much already, thanks to Ida-Ten's daughter and her explanations. "What's Emma-o like?"

"How would I know?" The shinigami nearly seemed amused, sparkling beams of light escaping holes in the shadow before it recovered its composure, and sealed them away. "Emma-o doesn't care to consult with us, as much as we work together. He is, in general, quite busy."

"Oh," Ranma sighed. He wracked his mind for knowledge of the kami, but ultimately wasn't able to come up with anything more than the girl had told him. At the same time, he couldn't help but think that there was some reason why he'd had to go alone. The thoughts spiraled around in his mind, as he tried to think of what he knew, and why she'd been unable to follow him.

Lost in the pattern he didn't notice where he was going, until the shinigami said, "And there is the palace of Emma-o," in a soft voice.

Shaking himself from the thoughts, he blinked, nearly reeling with the immensity of Emma-o's palace. It completely filled his vision, massive and glowing in the dim light that filtered into the region. Sparkling jewels adorned every surface, each of which was already covered entirely in gold or silver paneling.

"Wow," he croaked out, eyes wide. "It's ... impressive."

The shinigami offered a noise much like a dismissive snort and drifted forward to a massive, open gate. Stumbling, Ranma followed after, still craning his neck to try and take in all of the palace at once. How had he wandered to it without seeing?

He shook his reverie away again -- he was letting himself get too distracted. Squaring his shoulders, he strode through the gleaming gate, across the immaculate entryway. There were no winds here to tell him what was ahead or behind, or comfort him with their presence. Beyond the ominous aperture, he was unsettled to find himself alone -- the Shinigami with him had vanished.

Swallowing, he peered about a well-lit hall, kilometers across, with the high ceiling so distant it was lost to darkness. A figure was clearly illuminated on the opposite end of the hall, too distant to make out entirely.

He strode forward, his wooden sandals clattering loudly in the silence. As he walked, the steady rhythm somehow echoing back to him from the distant walls, he became aware of the other beings in the room. There were countless men and women, though only a handful would be visible to him at a time. Dressed in all manner of clothing, they stared at him in surprise, drifting a stride above the floor of the hall, their bodies indistinct, and vanishing if he looked directly at them.

Trying to ignore them, he squared his shoulders again, and marched resolutely forward. He was committed, now. It was unnerving to realize that he was surrounded by so many of the dead, considering that by all rights he should have been one of them... But he tried not to think about that, instead focusing on the image of Ida-Ten to ward off the other influences.

Ida-Ten's daughter had warned him that in the demesne of another kami, he would find himself being subject to their influences until he learned to shield himself. In the meantime, by focusing on his own image -- that of Ida-Ten -- he could resist ... he hoped.

He held that image, marching forward. Another of the timeless instants that filled the kami-plane passed. It was more than just trying to be patient, as he did in the mortal realm. It was a truly timeless moment, as he marched past the spirits of salarymen, old women, children... a samurai in full armor who glared at him, but vanished when Ranma tried to look at him directly. The specters of all manner of men and women who had lived, all still awaiting their judgment, and he, defying them by walking through the spaces where they waited patiently for what could have been countless centuries.

A twisting sense of ... wrong ... filled him. How could he defy the laws and rules of this place? How could he, who was supposed to be Ida-Ten's successor violate both the rules of this place, and a place that was also a monastery for the dead? He was supposed to be a defender for those things, not someone who would casually and carelessly ignore those laws.

The sensation grew, until it became nearly a physical pain, and his step slowed ... but did not falter. All else aside, rules or not, he had been sent here for a reason, and to stop now would be foolish. He pressed on, through ages of effort and an eternity of walking. His feet crossed so much distance he was certain that if his sandals hadn't been a gift from Ida-Ten, they'd have worn through. He lost track of the paces, and the miles, as he began to pass through groups of women in simple kimono, and men in the robes of ancient emperors.

And then... Then he stopped, looking up at the massive cushion where Emma-o sat, watching him wordlessly. He frowned, wondering how long it had taken, and stole a glance behind him. The distance did not seem so great, only a handful of kilometers, not the eons of unending distance he remembered. And too, the people seemed fewer, not as many.

Perhaps ... perhaps it hadn't really been that far after all?

Swallowing nervously, he turned back to Emma-o, still watching him silently, and bowed low to the ground. He waited a minute, and then rose, looking up at the silent kami. Emma-o was resplendent in the robes of a Buddhist monk. He sat on a massive pillow -- at least a half-dozen paces across -- with his legs crossed, and his hands resting on his knees. His face was calm ... a hint of curiosity the only mar.

He looked at Ranma, studying him in return in as much detail, and Ranma fought to hold himself steady, trying not to cower before the imposing will of the being before him. What was he thinking, barging into the palace of Emma-o, the judge of the dead? How stupid had he been, to be so rude -- to break the code of Ida-Ten himself?

"Peace," the kami said at last, frowning faintly.

Ranma calmed himself, nodding, and still saying nothing.

"This is most ... unusual. Tell me, what brings one of the living to my realm?"

"I am..." Ranma faltered, unable to repeat the formula, and heaved an unsteady sigh. "Ida-Ten said ... that you would be able to teach me the laws I would need to learn."

"Laws ... yes, I know of them," Emma-o allowed, a faint smile coming to his lips. "And why would Ida-Ten send you to me? What could he not teach you himself?"

"I don't know," Ranma admitted, breaking down, and finally fidgeting with the sleeve of his uwagi. "I am ... supposed to take over once Ida-Ten retires, and he asked me to train with you?"

Emma-o's eyes widened slightly, and he smiled. "Did he?" the kami asked, one hand rising to rub at his chin thoughtfully. "Well, that is something... So you wish to learn of the law from me, when I have so much work to do? Tell me, who sent you?"

"Ida-Ten's daughter," he managed, taking a half step backwards. "She taught ... she taught me how to listen to the winds, and said to come here to learn from you."

"Ida-Ten's daughter," Emma-o mused, tilting his head upwards towards the ceiling, and frowning. "The servant of the Lord of Ocean." He seemed to consider that for a moment before nodding abruptly. "Very well. For that, I will teach you. Give me your name, mortal."

"I am Saotome Ranma," he replied, bowing low again. "Heir to the... Heir to Ida-Ten, and the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

Emma-o nodded at that. "And I am Emma-o, he who sits in judgement. Sit upon this cushion, young mortal, and learn of the law..."

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She rose to her feet the second he crossed the border of Emma-o's realm, smiling at him happily, and rushing to stand at his side. "You are well?" she asked anxiously. "Everything went as planned?"

"I ... think so," he said slowly. "There was a lot to learn." He shook his head, managing a smile for the girl. "It's been too long since I've seen someone aside from Emma-o alive. I think I must have spent months there." He paled suddenly, and bit his lip. "How long has it been?"

The girl composed herself, laughing quietly. "Hours, not even a day, Ranma," she assured him. "Be glad it did not go the other way. Sometimes you can spend a day in the land of the dead, and years will have passed."

He relaxed, shaking his head. "I'm tired ... and so hungry ... I did as you said, and did not eat anything while I was there." He swallowed, gesturing at nothing in particular. "I created food, like you showed me how to do, but because I made it myself it didn't do much but distract me. Emma-o understood, at least. Can we find some berries around here, or something?"

Her smile widened, and she shook her head. "Take my hand," she ordered suddenly, thrusting it towards him. Hesitantly, he did so, and she clasped it tightly. "Run with me," she insisted. "We will return to the mortal world for you to recover your strength. As skilled as you are, this is not your place, yet."

He nodded, breaking into an all-out sprint at the same time as she, the pair flying across the short grasses, their surroundings blurring in diffusion until they burst through something, coming to an awkward halt in an empty street. Ranma shifted his feet uncomfortably, dropping the girl's hand, and changing his clothes to the Chinese shirt and pants he favored.

Ida-Ten's daughter waited only until he looked at her before she immediately began walking forward, gesturing for him to follow. "Where are we going?" he asked, glancing around. The small road joined quickly with a larger one, this one revealing that they were on a hilltop, and the city was spread out below them... and south, the wind whispered.

He smiled, realizing how much he had missed the wind in Emma-o's lands. The girl paused, looking around, and shook her head. "A daughter of Marisha-Ten lives near here, as a mortal," she said after a few seconds. "She is, among other things, an excellent cook. I thought it best to take you some place where no one would know you -- I can only imagine that all you've learned will take a while to settle itself."

Nodding, he asked, "Is Yakushi-nyorai her father?"

"Yes," the girl admitted, surprised. "How did you know?"

"I ran into her half-brother," Ranma allowed, smiling. "Is she as nice as him?"

"I couldn't say," she sighed. "I've never met him. There is one small thing, though, Ranma. For the purposes of subtlety, only girls are allowed where we're going." As she spoke, the girl's clothing shifted to a schoolgirl's outfit. "We can ... take advantage of your curse for that part."

Ranma sighed, and began to shake his head, but a wayward splash of water from a man spraying some fruits at a roadside stand struck him. Shrugging, Ranma adjusted the hem of her matching school uniform, frowning at it distastefully before turning her attention to Ida-Ten's daughter.

The girl was struggling to conceal a small smile, and Ranma rasberried her obligingly. "It's not fun, you know. How would you like it if this happened to you?" she grumped.

"I imagine I wouldn't like it at all," she said, sobering suddenly. "And I am sorry."

Ranma shifted her feet uncomfortably, and managed a weak smile. "Aw, I didn't mean it like that." Her stomach growled then, and she swallowed, her mouth suddenly turning uncomfortably dry.

The girl laughed at him, smiling again, and shook her head. "Very well then. This way, Ranma."

In short order, Ranma found herself introduced to another girl -- no more than a child, really -- who looked up at Ida-Ten's daughter nervously, and nodded when told Ranma's name. Her own name was lost, somehow, and when she spoke, those sounds never quite reached Ranma's ears.

She assumed that it was for a reason, and merely nodded. "We've just come back from a training journey together," Ida-Ten's daughter finally said. "We will be leaving again shortly, unfortunately."

"Ah!" the younger girl -- Marisha-Ten's daughter -- exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "Then I shall make you something to eat before you go, Sempai."

Ida-Ten's daughter offered a slight bow to the smaller girl, which Ranma mirrored. After that, Ida-Ten's daughter led her outside, taking a deep breath, and sighing.

Ranma finally broke the silence, still fidgeting with the hem of her skirt uncomfortably. "What is this place? It ... doesn't feel quite like the mortal world."

"Think of it as a halfway house," Ida-Ten's daughter said after a moment of thought. "It is part of the mortal realm, but closer to the kami plane."

"What is it for?" Ranma asked, one hand going to rest atop a railing, as she turned to look across the horizon. The buildings and sky were frightfully familiar, and she closed her eyes, shivering until a stray eastern breeze wrapped itself around her, comforting in its familiarity.

"It is ... to be something, that much I know," Ida-Ten's daughter said slowly. "The Lord of Ocean comes here ... but the place belongs to another."

Ranma nodded, the wind whispering to him of a woman, one with a dour expression, dressed in a radiant kimono of shining golden and silver thread. Her voice... something told Ranma that her voice was a gift from that woman. "This place belongs to the Lord of Ocean's lover?" she asked after a moment, her eyes opening, and instinctively looking away from the too-familiar skyline.

"It may be," Ida-Ten's daughter said slowly. "I would not pry, though others here ... might. You are safe here, for there are no mortals in this place ... not at the moment."

"I see," Ranma said quietly, the wind whispering of plans and pieces on a chessboard. The view was familiar to her -- far too familiar to be comfortable. "I ... think I've been here before."

"Have you?" Ida-Ten's daughter asked, frowning, and turning to regard Ranma directly, her long black hair billowing in a sudden wind.

"I ... think so," Ranma said hesitantly, staring at the railing that would have been before her when she was dead. "I think ... I came right here when I ... died."

The girl relaxed at that, a sympathetic smile showing for an instant before her expression hardened, and she nodded solemnly. "Of course. The way of things ... can be strange, some times." She paused, looking over the shorter girl. "But, I think my father will be pleased -- you've learned ... well. Time for that later. There is one last thing, but it shall be simple in comparison." She allowed a smile to cross her face again. "Come. The daughter of Marisha-Ten is ready for us."

Ranma smiled back, looking forward to going home, and followed her to the larger entrance of the house where the small girl who had more power than any martial artist Ranma had ever known made a meal. It was strange ... but she knew that it was so -- the girl had more power, more potential than Ranma herself as a martial artist. As a kami ... Ranma couldn't guess, and was afraid to consider it. It was strange enough, trying to learn how to be something so radically different, but at the same time, learning of laws felt so right.

"I have prepared you something to tide you over until you return," the girl announced demurely, as the daughter of Ida-Ten led Ranma through the doorway. "I hope you like it."

It was a simple, if traditional meal. Rice, miso soup, and fish. A breakfast, usually, but Ranma's hunger was enough that she decided not to comment, instead following the taller girl's example, and eating. And the meal tasted better than any she'd had in recent memory. It was not, she imagined, just because she had gone so long without real food. There was something else... some simple magic in it that made it everything she desired, and everything that the girl who had made it had hoped it could be. The first bite alone sent spiraling memories through Ranma's mind, though she said nothing, merely wiping at the corners of her eyes when the others weren't paying attention.

How long had it been, she wondered, since she had seen her mother? How had she forgotten? Perhaps ... perhaps one the final step of training was complete, she could find the woman.

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"You are distracted," the girl accused, pausing her walk, and turning to regard Ranma sternly.

He ducked his head, looking away, and nodded. The river that they paced along shimmered, faintly luminous in the sunlight. Across the water was a massive structure, bearing a sign too distant for Ranma to read. Shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, he squinted, eyeing the building. It was many stories tall, ancient in bearing and design. Sighing, he shook his head, turning to face the girl again. "I am," he said slowly. "But it is because ... the daughter of Marisha-Ten reminded me of someone who I haven't seen in many years."

"Ah?" the girl noised, her frown lessening.

"My mother," Ranma said dismissively, walking forward.

The girl's frown deepened -- he could tell that much without looking -- and she hurried to walk at his side again. "Tell me about your mother."

He shook his head, not meeting her eyes.

"Feh," she grumped. "Fair enough, I suppose," she sighed. "Would you tell me of your mother ... if I gave you my name?"

This time he stopped first, turning to look at her, and raising an eyebrow. He considered it for a moment, then crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. "I would."

The girl sighed, shaking her head. "I was afraid of that ... because I cannot tell you yet."

Ranma smiled at that, chuckling. "Curiosity is a curse, isn't it?"

"Worse than some," the girl allowed, smiling faintly. "We've followed the road as far as it will take us to Bishamon-sama."

"What can you tell me about him?" Ranma asked, furrowing his brow.

"Tell me what you know, first," the girl chided, stepping away from the road, and into a stand of trees.

Ranma followed her, trying to remember what he knew. "He's one of the Shichi Fukujin," he said slowly. "And is a kami of war. Why am I going to learn law from him?"

"He is a protector of those who follow the righteous law, Ranma. He will teach you of the spirit of the law, as you only know the letter." She frowned, coming to a halt, and peering about the thin trees surrounding them. "I will wait for you here. Once more, you must go on alone. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he sighed, looking through the trees hesitantly, and stepping forward, looking around. Ahead he could only see the forest floor, littered with thin sparse trees, though their combined foliage hid the sun from him. He shook his head, wandering on until he found a dense bush, blocking off what looked like a clearing. He raised a hand to brush it aside, then had a second thought, and closed his eyes. The wind heeded his unspoken request, and a faint breeze bore him across the greenery without disrupting it.

Within the circle of leaves, however, the clearing was far, far larger than the forest had appeared when he and Ida-Ten's daughter had strolled through it. A massive barren field stood before him, uneven and rough, littered only with rocks and bone. The skeletal remains of people, he supposed, and yet ... it was somehow less worrisome than the spirits he had seen in Emma-o's lair.

The breeze warned him, and he spun quickly, turning to face the man he knew stood there. No, no man, he realized, eyes widening, and jaw falling slack. Emma-o, for all of his own power, was restrained compared to this raging torrent of presence. The image of Ida-Ten threatened to falter before the onslaught of Bishamon. He stood easily eight feet tall, dressed in gleaming armor, stained, yet somehow bearing a sense of rightness about it. A massive turning wheel of fire hung behind the man's head, his face bemused as he leant against a spear that was at least his own height.

Bishamon leant down slightly, still some distance from Ranma, and grinned. "Now, now," he said softly, chuckling. "What brings you here?"

It took all of Ranma's courage to stand his ground, as he answered, "I'm here to learn."

"The arts of war?" Bishamon seemed amused, straightening up, and banishing the wheel of fire and spear. His presence became less imposing with the symbols gone. "You need to learn quite a bit more on the mortal plane before it is time to study with me."

Ranma shook his head quickly, still nervous about offending the great kami, and realizing that the hedges he had jumped over were gone, no longer anywhere within his field of vision. "No, I ... want to learn about the spirit of the law," he managed, swallowing nervously.

"Ah," Bishamon murmured, crossing his arms over his chest. "And how, young mortal did you find me? How did you come to the kami plane?"

"I was led by the daughter of Ida-Ten," he said more firmly. Her name reinforced the image of Ida-Ten within his mind, relieving more of the pressure of Bishamon's presence. "I am Ida-Ten's heir."

"Ah," Bishamon said quietly, grinning widely. "For him, then, I will teach you. Young mortal, tell me what you know of the law..."

-+-+-+-+-

This time, when he returned to her, she was not sitting, waiting for him, but practicing with her sword. He paused after stepping over the threshold of the trees that marked the entrance to Bishamon's realm, and watched her. The motions seemed fluid and practiced ... but tentative, lacking in confidence. He said nothing until she abruptly sheathed her blade and turned to face him.

Her expression was placid, calm, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Hello," he said finally, stepping towards her, and smiling nervously.

She managed the faintest hint of a smile, and asked, "And so, you've finished your studies with Bishamon-sama?"

"I ... think so," Ranma said, nodding. "He said I was done, and that I'd done better than he expected." He shook his head, then, lacing his fingers together and stretching his arms over his head. "Ah ... I can go back to the mortal plane now, right?"

The girl nodded, frowning. "You know well enough how to get there, right?"

"Yes."

She sighed, offering a melancholy smile. "I wish I could go with you for a while ... but I have things to tend to. We will meet again, Ranma-san."

He opened his mouth to thank her, but she vanished before he could say anything, disappearing as though she had never been. His mouth closed, forming a frown, and the winds couldn't -- or wouldn't -- tell him where she had gone. Sighing, he closed his eyes, and stepped onto a passing wind, allowing it to carry him through the barriers between the mortal world and the world of the kami.

Emerging high over Nerima, he flipped through the air, sliding along the winds, and spiraling towards the earth. How long had it been, all told, since he had left? From his vantage, it had been months, but he wasn't certain that were the reality. Shaking his head, he rode the winds down from his height, circling towards the Tendo dojo, ultimately settling to the earth outside the sliding back door. He couldn't see anyone immediately, though the house didn't feel abandoned.

As he considered, a familiar figure stepped into the room, blinking in surprise when she saw him. "Ah!" Kasumi exclaimed, smiling and clapping her hands together once. "Ranma-san, you came back! Would you like something to eat?"

His stomach rumbled in response, and he nodded sheepishly.

She giggled at him quietly, bustling him inside, and pushing him to the furo. "You wash up, and when you come out, I'll have something ready for you."

-+-+-+-+-

Shortly, Ranma had returned, washed and feeling refreshed. Kasumi had set out something for him that he couldn't readily identify, though it smelled good, reminding him of the girl that Ida-Ten's daughter had shown him to. It tasted good, too, though not as fine as the daughter of Marisha-Ten's cooking. "Are you well, Ranma-san?" Kasumi asked politely, sitting at the table opposite him.

"Just thinking," he replied absently, between mouthfuls. "This is pretty good. Not as good as the time Marisha-Ten's daughter cooked for me, but pretty close." He blinked, realizing what he had said, and blanched, quickly covering, "I mean, it's really, good, but uh, it's hard to..." Faltering he sighed, offering an embarrassed grin. "Sorry."

"No, no," Kasumi assured him, giggling quietly. "Finding my humble cooking compared to that of a kami is quite a compliment, Ranma-san."

Nodding hopefully, and sated, Ranma gathered the dishes he had dirtied, and bore them to the kitchen, ignoring Kasumi's protests. It was the least he could do after his careless slip. Once he was finished, he returned to the living room, and retook his seat, once more sitting opposite Kasumi. "Where is Pops, and everyone else?" he asked, while Kasumi poured a cup of tea for each of them.

"Well, Akane and Nabiki are at school, but they should be getting home in a bit. Saotome-no-ojisan is at work, and Father is reapplying for his business license at city hall, so he can reopen the dojo." She beamed a smile at him, her hands wrapped around her teacup. "I was afraid he'd never get around to it, but Saotome-no-ojisan persuaded him to -- isn't that wonderful?"

"I ... yeah, actually," Ranma mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "What..." He bit back the question before it could be completed, and shook his head. "How long was I gone?"

Kasumi set down her teacup and steepled her hands in thought. "I suppose it would be about five weeks, since you left." She paused for a moment, looking at something behind Ranma, and added, "Today is a Wednesday."

"Ah," he said quietly. "I... wasn't certain."

The woman offered him another smile, and cautiously asked, "Did everything go well, Ranma-san?"

"Just Ranma, Kasumi-san," he replied, wincing. "I'm only in training." He chuckled nervously, then slumped. "I'm just glad I don't have to learn about kitchens, yet," he confessed.

"Oh, that's right," Kasumi exclaimed. "I read that in China, Ida-Ten is associated with kitchens as well as law."

"Bishamon-sama said as much," Ranma admitted. "Ida-Ten himself didn't mention it, so I guess it doesn't matter as much to him, but I kind of noticed it when I was in your kitchen. It's so strange." He sighed again, shaking his head, and closed his eyes. "But... yeah, everything went well, Kasumi-san. I got to meet Emma-o, the daughter of Ida-Ten, and Bishamon-sama. It was... interesting."

His eyes opened in time to see Kasumi nodding appreciatively, though she said nothing.

"Uh ... anyway, I take it nothing else has been going on?" he asked, curious.

"Oh, I believe a friend of yours left a letter, come to think of it," Kasumi said, rising to her feet. "I'll fetch it for you." She strode quickly to the set of drawers below the house's phone, and produced a worn envelope. "He seemed confused when I told him I couldn't possibly tell him where to find you while you were training," she added in an apologetic voice, handing the envelope over.

"'Hibiki Ryouga,'" Ranma read off the front of the envelope. "I get the idea that this should remind me of someone," he mused. He shrugged, and opened it, removing the letter from within, and mumbling aloud, "'Saotome Ranma, for your dishonorable failure to fight me as you had promised, I challenge you to a rematch at the gates to Furinkan high school the day you get back from your training trip.'"

"My," Kasumi said, frowning slightly. "That doesn't sound good at all. Who is this boy?"

"No clue," Ranma sighed, folding the letter up and stowing it safely within his uwagi. "I guess I'll find out tomorrow at school." He rose to his feet, not realizing he had mimicked Ida-Ten's daughter by patting at his hakama to dislodge dust -- dust that wasn't there -- until he had done it. Shaking his head, he strode to the backyard, riding a passing breeze to the roof of the house, and sitting there to contemplate what he had learned.

The pressing of the wind was still heeded, but seemed more like the quiet whisper that it should be, instead of the roaring gale of information that it had seemed. He pushed that thought away for the moment, considering instead what he had considered, while eating with the daughter of Ida-Ten...

His mother.

What about his mother?

"Do you know my mother?" he asked the wind quietly, curious, and uncertain.

-+-+-+-+-

On the porch, Kasumi looked up sharply, as the wind carried Ranma's whispered voice down to him, asking, "Do you know my mother?"

She bit her lip, shaking her head. What must the poor boy be going through? She could only imagine, and she wasn't certain she even wanted to do that. He had seemed to be going half mad just before he left. Then, when he had returned, just a short while ago, he had seemed so much happier, and yet ... haunted. What hung over his head, she wondered.

And how could he not even know his own mother? Steeling her resolve, she decided that she'd question the boy's father about it subtly while he was at school -- he was only a child in turmoil, after all. If he wanted his mother, then he should have her. And if his mother wasn't available...

She fretted for a moment, wringing her hands together and afraid to go into the yard, where Ranma would see her to take down the laundry, then smiled. Picking up her laundry basket, she set aside her misgivings and marched into the yard, taking down the clothes that hung there. If he had no mother available, he would have to let Kasumi be there for him, in whatever capacity she could muster.

Smiling with her renewed resolve, she waved to Ranma, perched on the roof, before heading back into the house.

-+-+-+-+-

The following day found Ranma walking to school with Akane, the boy staring up at the sky as he jogged across the fence, Akane at his side, casting curious glances up at him every so often. "So," she said, finally broaching the silence, "your father seems really happy now that you're back."

Ranma nodded, not looking at her, and smiling faintly. "I could tell," he said quietly. "The old man's been acting different lately. It's kinda nice, though." He shook his head, frowning suddenly, and glanced at her. "Someone challenged me to a fight in front of the school this morning."

Akane nodded, offering Ranma a nervous smile. "He ... stumbled his way to the dojo a while ago. I'm not sure how he found out about you -- everyone else seems to have forgotten ... but, anyway, he said he needed to challenge you for some indignity." Her smile faded into a worried frown. "What's it about?"

He shrugged absently. The prior evening, he had been busy telling the story of what had happened while he was training to discuss the challenge. "I don't remember," he admitted. "I really don't. It could have been anything, I suppose. My memory seems to be getting better..." he trailed off with a rueful chuckle, hopping to the street at Akane's side as he ran out of fence to run across. "Kinda funny, but mostly I was focused on martial arts only, and that'd be mostly what I remembered ... but I can remember more. I guess it's just because I care about more, now."

"I suppose," Akane answered doubtfully. "Um, anyway, he's ... camping in front of the school, waiting for you. Every morning, he beats up all the boys that try and challenge me, even Kuno."

Ranma raised an eyebrow at that. "I ... see," he said quietly. "Well, they don't have a right to attack you, anyway, so what does it matter?"

Akane huffed indignantly, sticking her tongue out at him. "It's my challenge -- I don't need someone else to step in and just finish it off without even letting me try."

He nodded at that, frowning. "I guess I can understand. It's about honor, right?"

"Exactly!" she exclaimed, smiling at him again.

"But, what if his own code of honor says he has to protect people who are being attacked by a larger number of people? And it's probably pretty obvious that they're attacking you, and not you challenging them, after all," Ranma said quietly.

Her face fell. "I hadn't really thought about that," she answered slowly. "But, really, it's still my own affair of honor, and he's getting in the way by not even asking me, first."

"That's true," Ranma admitted. "Anyway, we're here..." He trailed off, surveying the fallen mass of students, including an unconscious kendoka. "I am Saotome Ranma," he called out loudly, looking from side to side curiously. "Hibiki Ryouga, I have received your challenge, and have come to meet you!"

A boy, somewhat taller than Ranma, stepped between the open gates of the school, and offered Ranma a fanged grin, cracking his knuckles loudly. "Saotome!" he called across the street. "About time you showed up -- I thought you were hiding from me like the coward you are!"

Ranma vanished from Akane's side, and was before Ryouga before she could recover -- moving so quickly that for a moment he seemed to be in both spaces at once. Ryouga took an alarmed step back, falling into a fighting stance. "Coward?" Ranma asked, frowning. "I don't think so -- my ... master sent me on a training journey."

Ryouga recovered his composure quickly and frowned, sizing Ranma up. Ranma was dressed in his school uniform, while Ryouga's own outfit was less than standard. "Master?" he asked, frowning. "Who's that? I asked your father, and he wouldn't answer me. What style are you studying now, Ranma?"

"The Saotome School of Anything Goes," Ranma replied, nonplussed. "My master wasn't teaching me martial arts." Ryouga blinked at that, scowling. "Anyway, class starts soon, so answer me a few questions before we start -- why are you challenging me?"

"I-- You don't even remember?" Ryouga yelled. "Every day, you would steal the bread from me at lunch!"

"Oh yeah," Ranma answered vaguely, his eyes distant. "I kinda remember, now."

"You 'kinda remember'?" Ryouga grumbled. "You-- Don't you remember that we had arranged a duel -- a duel which you ran out on before you left on your trip to China?"

"Sure, I remember that," Ranma answered more confidently, nodding. "But I also remember that I waited for three days, and you didn't show up."

Ryouga glowered in an accusatory tone, "And when I showed up on the fourth day, you weren't there. I followed you all the way to China for a rematch, but you were always just a step ahead of me!"

"Huh," Ranma mused, sticking his hands into his pockets, and rocking back on his heels. "Some would say that since you failed to show up on the agreed day, you already forfeited the original match," he drawled.

"Hey!" Ryouga protested.

"Then again," Ranma considered, frowning, "knowing your sense of direction, you were really trying your best to get to the spot."

"That's right," Ryouga added, calming slightly. "And I've been trying to catch up with you ever since."

"I suppose," Ranma sighed. "This is one of those gray areas ... but the spirit of the law says that I can accept your challenge..." he glanced at the clock before the school, "... once class lets out. See you in a bit."

With that, he walked past the stunned Ryouga, disappearing into the school building before the other boy could think to react. "Wait a minute," he growled, spinning around. "That coward ran off!"

Akane snorted, walking towards the school entrance. "No he didn't," she assured the boy as she passed him. "But we've got less than a minute until class starts. You just wait here." Not bothering to explain further, she sighed and quickly jogged, picking up her pace and running towards her classroom.

Of course, they both were still late -- she wasn't certain how Ranma was delayed, given how quickly he could run, but in short order they were standing in the hall, carrying buckets. "I get the feeling you're never actually going to get to attend a class," Akane grumped quietly.

"I'm just glad that they don't seem to have noticed that I was missing for so long," Ranma replied, smiling faintly.

Akane sighed, shaking her head. Honestly, he was so strange, even now that he wasn't constantly distracted...

-+-+-+-+-

Ryouga sat against the stone column of the gate, facing the school and frowning thoughtfully. If he remembered correctly, class would be letting out soon, and he would finally be able to make Ranma face justice for his crimes. He frowned darkly, remembering how quickly Ranma had moved, and shook his head. It didn't matter, in the end. Justice was on his side, after all.

He rose to his feet as the bell rang, wondering if Ranma would face him, or just run away. But as the students exited the school building, the majority of them milled around in a large circle, looking at him expectantly. He blinked, hefting his umbrella, as Ranma emerged from the crowd, and approached. The shorter boy stopped a few paces short of Ryouga, nodding at him. "So, you still want to fight?" he asked cautiously.

"Of course," snapped Ryouga. "This duel will settle the matter once and for all."

"Very well, then," Ranma said, shrugging. "Let's go." He slipped immediately into a loose, mobile stance.

Ryouga growled, and slipped towards Ranma, launching a punch at the boy's midsection. Ranma evaded it easily, stepping to one side, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Ranma, you coward!" Ryouga growled. "Fight me!"

"Well, the thing about that is," Ranma replied, jumping over a kick, then twisting in midair to evade a strike from Ryouga's umbrella, "that the bread fights were all about the survival of the fittest."

"What are you saying?" Ryouga asked in frustration, his blows all meeting with empty air -- even when it seemed like he should have struck the other boy, his strikes met no more resistance than fighting the wind would have caused.

"I got the bread because I was better than you," Ranma explained, grinning. "And now, you're trying to get revenge on me for it. But, laws are made to help protect people who can't protect themselves, so the law's on your side, I guess."

"Shut up!" Ryouga roared, his fist launching towards Ranma's face. This time, the boy didn't dodge, and was flung across the schoolyard, sliding backwards across the lawn and snapping a sprinkler head as he did so. The broken sprinkler gushed cold water, and Ryouga's rage faded, watching his nemesis, fallen and... A girl?

"What the hell?" he asked, drawing nearer in confusion. But Ranma's clothes had changed to a girl's uniform, and her once-dark hair was now red. Her face sported an unfriendly looking bruise, and her eyes were closed, as though asleep. Ryouga's jaw gaped, as time seemed to slow down for everyone except himself and the girl he defended every morning.

Akane, her name was. She dashed forward, ignoring the slowed students in their circle, and knelt at Ranma's side, checking up on the redheaded girl and shooting Ryouga a dirty look. "Ranma?" the girl asked anxiously, gently brushing her hair from her face. "Are you okay? Ranma?"

"He will be fine," someone said authoritatively. Ryouga spun, seeing a young man dressed in a white -- gleaming white -- hakama and uwagi, standing on the wall behind him and frowning. "He refused to fight a battle which the law suggested was against him, and so, mortal, you have defeated him." A vague smile played across his lips, and he leapt to the ground at Ryouga's side, gesturing, and suddenly holding a staff. "Not that it matters, now."

"Um," Ryouga managed, suddenly nervous about this young man. "Who are you?"

Ancient eyes stared at him from the young man's face, flashing a dangerous blue. "I am Ida-Ten, young mortal, guardian of the law, among other things." He gestured to Ranma, who was slowly stirring, and added, "This is Ranma, my heir." He paused for a moment, considering things as Ranma climbed to her feet, shaking her head and gingerly probing her bruised cheek. "Congratulations, young mortal, you have fought on the side of the law ... in some senses. In others..." He shrugged, turning to Ranma. "And you, Ranma, did you fail to consider some things?"

The girl shook her head to clear it, offering Akane a small smile before turning her attention to her master. "I had considered some things," she said carefully. "But ... this seemed to be one of those gray areas, where not everything applied."

"True enough," Ida-Ten murmured. "Personal honor is always ... messy, isn't it?"

Ryouga blinked dumbly, then shook his head. "Ranma ... what happened to you?" he asked, ignoring the older man for the moment.

"Jusenkyou," Ranma said, sighing. "I ... drowned in a cursed spring."

"I was there," Ryouga said, staring at his hands suddenly, fascinated. "I ... was lucky, I guess, not to fall in. The guide told me about it, and..." He shook his head. "Anyway ... that aside, I guess we're even now, Saotome."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Ranma replied, nodding, dropping her hand from her cheek. "Good luck to you, huh?"

Ryouga nodded, hefting his pack. "Yeah, and ... uh ... good luck to you, too," Ryouga managed, shaking his head, and turning away.

Ida-Ten snorted and vanished, just as time seemed to resume its normal motion and the students looked around in confusion, quietly asking where Ranma had gone. Shaking his head, Ryouga made his way to the street, sparing a last glance towards the redhead, watching him with her cool blue eyes before he turned away and strode down the street.

"You're gonna need it more than I do," he said quietly, wondering what Ranma had gotten himself involved with.

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End file.
